Shell on June 26 said it has taken final investment decisions on its Polaris carbon capture project at the company’s Scotford refinery and chemicals complex in Alberta, Canada, and the Atlas Carbon Storage Hub with partner ATCO EnPower.

The moves are part of the company’s plans to invest between $10 billion and $15 billion from 2023 to 2025 on low-carbon energy solutions.

Both projects are expected to start operations near the end of 2028, Shell said in a news release.

“Carbon capture and storage is a key technology to achieve the Paris Agreement climate goals,” said Huibert Vigeveno, renewable and energy solutions director for Shell’s downstream unit. “The Polaris and Atlas projects are important steps in reducing emissions from our own operations.”

Designed to capture about 650,000 tonnes of CO2 annually from the Shell-owned Scotford refinery and chemicals complex, Polaris’ initial phase could reduce Shell’s direct emissions by up to 40% from the refinery and by up to 30% from the chemicals plant, the company said.

As part of the first phase of Atlas, CO2 captured by Polaris will be sent via a 22-km pipeline to the hub and two storage wells about 2 km underground in the Basal Cambrian Sands. The formation is the same one where Shell stores CO2 from its Quest CCS facility.

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